the photographs and diary of a bimbling boomer

The wrong gorge

From Winetown we headed back north a little into the mountains near Florac again. I seem to have found the knack of picking perfect-for-us campsites. This wasn’t the same site as before and tho’on our previous stop here the campsite was perfectly pleasant, this one was another real gem, further up the mountain, quiet if you discount the R. Tarn babbling incessantly, and a fabulous 4k riverside walk down into the very picturesque town. The neighbours were great too, a lovely Dutch couple Paul and Miriam, and then the Kiwis arrived in hired motorhome – R0X1’s twin (non-identical, see if you can spot the differences). I asked the site owner Nicole (a lady who describes herself as feeling international as she has German/US parentage and has spent the majority of her life in France!) if she thought R0X1 would be OK going through the Gorges du Tarn which I have a fancy for driving through and was the reason for my return to the area. As she thought it might be a little tight I decided to err on the side of safety, for once, and took the next gorge over for the trip to Millau, and had the delight of 82k of the best yet squiggly, snakey, switchback drive. Fantastic views and huddled mountain villages aplenty.

On arrival at Millau Paul and Meriam informed me, having driven via the Gorge du Tarn that I could’ve managed it without problem as the height restriction is 3.5m and I’m just under 3m – well R0X1 is, I’m vertically challenged!That information is now filed for a later date or maybe, as I don’t want to head R0X1 east again, I may hire a car to drive my first choice gorge.

The 3 of us hadn’t arranged to go the same town let alone the same site – it was only after we hugged our farewells we discovered our mutual destination!

We are in Languedoc at the moment and had lunch in Sommieres yesterday. We got chatting to the Dutch couple on the next table who turned out to be the Paul and Miriam, not to mention their perfectly behaved little cairn terrier, mentioned in your blog!

« For my part, I travel not to go anywhere,
but to go.
I travel for travel’s sake.
The great affair is to move. »
– Robert Louis Stevenson,
‘Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes’

« The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can.
Pursuing it with eager feet
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I cannot say.